Structural, Mechanical, and Radiation Shielding Properties of Epoxy Composites Reinforced with Tungsten Carbide and Hexagonal Boron Nitride

In recent years, tungsten-containing composites and other lightweight, flexible, and non-toxic shielding materials have emerged as viable alternatives for shielding applications. In this work, tungsten carbide (WC) and hexagonal boron nitride ( h BN) have been used as a filler in epoxy resin to a novel composite to enhance the radiation attenuation properties. Four composites were obtained by using various WC/ h BN concentrations. The linear attenuation coefficients (LACs) were measured experimentally. Based on the experimentally obtained values of LACs, other radiation shielding parameters, including half value length (HVL), tenth value layer (TVL), and mean free path (MFP), were calculated. The 7W1B composite had the lowest MFP, HVL, and TVL at 662KeV. Our study has demonstrated that addition of WC/ h BN hybrid filler to epoxy resin has improved the polymer's radiation shielding properties.